


Lost in a Familiar Place

by Pastah_Farian



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Androids, F/M, Gen, Human, Humanity, What if there were other plans in saving Humanity?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 17:54:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14598513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pastah_Farian/pseuds/Pastah_Farian
Summary: Everybody knows about Project Gestalt and how it was supposed to save humanity. Everybody knows how it failed miserably and doomed humanity to extinction. But what if there were other plans that were concocted to save the human race? In this fic, read as how a US Army Lieutenant awakes from cryo sleep to a world mired in endless war and strangely attractive androids.In this world, He has only has one mission.Finish Project Iceman and save the human race.





	Lost in a Familiar Place

+++

"WARNING! CYROGENICS POD # 21 IS LACKING SUFFICIENT POWER! REROUTING MAIN POWER SOURCE TO BACKUP GENERATORS!

REROUTING IS A FAILURE! BACKUP POWER GENERATORS NOT DETECTED!

DELAYING SHALL TERMINATION OF THE INHABITANT OF THE POD! 

OVERRIDING MANUAL INSTRUCTIONS! 

RELEASING INHABITANT IN 3....2.....1!"

+++

He awoke with a gasp. His body buckled as lungs that haven’t been used for a long time reacquainted itself with breathing. The first thought that was in his head was his thirst. He had never felt so thirsty in his life and his parched throat demanded it to be quenched. And so, he stumbled out of his pod, clumsily getting his booted feet tumble over the steps and crashing down on the cold, metal floor. A headache postulated inside him, making his damp mood becoming even sourer. He pushed his gloved hands to raise himself up and he stumbled for the exit.

The walk was a blur. He only remembered that he was stumbling around like a drunkard. His search for the exit felt like hours and by the time that he found it, it felt like he had travelled for days on end without stopping. He searched for the number pad that would lead him to the outside and found it. He then punched in the codes to open the automatic door. A few seconds later, the ancient metal barriers lifted itself and as soon as there was an opening for him, he ran out.

Then, he remembered running out and making his way around grass before hearing the sounds of running water nearby. He made his way to it and found a crystal clear stream. He ignored all other concerns for bacteria and other nasty things that might hurt his health. He was thirsty damn it! He quickly got to his knees on the edge, tossed away his helmet that had worn and began to greedily cup water to his mouth. He drank until he was satisfied and leaned back. It was then that he was finally able to see what he was ignoring in his dash for water.

The world....was....green.

All around him, nature was growing. Grass, trees and even flowers. He had never seen so much green in his life. The only time he remembered seeing this green was the Amazon Protected Sanctuary. His eyes widened when he realized all the green was growing on the ruins of buildings.

Mother Nature was true to her name. She would thrive even if humans didn’t exist at all.

Then, he heard the crunching of branches from behind him. He turned back, thinking that an Infected was there to pounce on him but what came was a elderly-looking moose that gave him a tired but curious look. The animal gave him another glance before walking off in a snort. He rubbed the back of his head as he watched the animal walk away.

Then he heard another voice, one that didn't sound too friendly.

"DESTROY! KILL! ANNIHILATE!”

"What the fuck..." He said audibly before dodging just in time as an armored fist came down at where he originally stood.

If he could describe what he was seeing, it was that it was one ugly looking and badly rusting robot. Its body was too large for its head and it had arms the size of tree-trunks. The thing's head turned at him and its eyes glowed red.

"YOU DARE TRESPASS IN HIS REALM? YOU SHALL DIE! FOR THE FOREST KING!" It screamed, its mechanical voice increasing in pitch. He realized that there would be no reasoning with the…robot and took out his side-arm. The pinnacle achievement of human engineering and magical tinkering came to life, firing pulse after pulse of concentrated energy at the robot. His aim was square at the robot's head, his line of thought came from the notion that if he separated it from the body, it would be enough to deactivate it. He was satisfied as his shots did take the head off. But the robot still stood and was now charging at him.

He barely had a second to react before dodging again, missing the charging behemoth who ran straight into the concrete of a ruined building.

There he stood, pistol in arm, thinking of possible ways to bring the robot down. He had to find a solution quick or that thing would turn him to paste. It was then that he sighted rubble being held by ramparts above the robot. Seizing initiative, he shot at the weak metal that held the rubble. The metal gave way and rubble descended on the robot, pulverizing it. As the dust settled, the robot was down, held in place by stones. He took no chances and moved forward and give the robot a couple blasts from his pistol for good measure.

Satisfied that the robot would no longer get up, he holstered his pistol and quickly made his way back to the bunker.

In his mind, there were protocols to be followed, and orders to follow. And he be damned if he failed in that. If he failed, humanity was doomed.

As he returned to the bunker, a solitary figure stood at a nearby building, watching the figure with curious and fearful eyes.

+++

 

The bunker was nothing more than a cryogenics facility that was designed to hold at least a platoon of men. It was built with the strongest and long-lasting materials that mankind could afford. It was supposed to be indestructible. But upon returning to the bunker, He realized that the other half had collapsed into itself. He did not know if it was from an earthquake or from a bomb but what he did know is that whoever was stuck under the rubble was dead. Another grisly discovery that he found was that the wing his pod was at suffered a massive power outage and resulted in the deaths of the other men and women who were frozen with him. He only was lucky that his pod was sufficiently charged before he went under.

The deaths were a sad event that was for sure but he needed to get an idea on how things were and to check if other cryogenics facilities were online and running. He can mourn the dead later. But for the sake of giving the dead some dignity, he offered them a quick prayer before he went back to collecting his equipment.

The locker-room was what he had remembered it. Messy and disorganized. He searched for his locker which took quite some time as he had trouble remembering where it was. It was then that he caught sight of a locker with faded white letters on it.

M. FANE

Jackpot.

He went forward and opened it. Inside were the personal effects that he left behind. Or what was left of it. His backpack was still inside and that he was thankful for. He opened it and found the supplies that he had stuffed it with. Packs of MRE’s, matches, rope, a tent and other gear necessary for survival greeted him. Regulations stated that he would receive items like these from the Quartermaster but when he and his…squad went under, shit had gone to the point where regulations were outright ignored. After all, the survival of humanity was much more important than rules.

His eye caught sight of a long, silver rifle that leaned against the wall of the locker. He immediately knew what it was.

He held up his weapon in his hands, running through the energy rifle's aged look. Another pinnacle achievement of mankind had gone to waste. The loss of his energy rifle was an unfortunate loss. The silver weapon that he held in his hand had saved his life more times than he could count. To think that he would lose it...

He sighed as he laid it down on the ground. Age had taken its toll and its cells were depleted, making it nothing more but a fancy mantelpiece. Carrying it around his back would only give some unneeded weight. He slapped himself for his stupidity. He should have brought the damn thing inside the cyropod before he went to sleep. That at least would have preserved it for him to use. But the past was past and he was still thankful that he at least still had his energy pistol.

He left the locker room and searched the other rooms that weren't destroyed. To say the least, he found either nothing or useless junk. But he did at least find some medi-gel salves in the Medical ward.

As he was stuffing the salves into his pack, he was alerted when a piece of metal fell from the corridor outside and a unidentified blip suddenly showed up in the HUD of his helmet. He swiftly turned back, his pistol at the ready.

"Anyone there?" He called out. Hearing no answer, he slowly made his way towards the door. He glanced at his HUD and it showed the unidentified blip right at the corner. He steeled himself as he peered out of the door, and that was when he noticed a dark figure that hid behind an overturned cart. The unidentified figure froze as it realized that it had been discovered. As he was about to call out who that was, the figure suddenly turned tail and ran. His legs moved automatically and he ran after him. 

Running closer, he could see the child-like silhouette of the runner. That or he was a really short guy. His mind paused to think. Was this a survivor? If so, how the hell did he get out of cyro? Was he released like him? Were there others out there? And the better question was how the hell was he able to see in a hallway so dark?

"STOP!" He yelled, his voice amplifying in the metallic corridor. "I SAID STOP!"

But as he was about to gain distance, the figure ran even faster. He cursed under his helmet. If the kid ran even faster, He would lose the runner unless he did something drastic…

His helmet!

He then took off his helmet, aimed it at the runner and with the precision of a baseball pitcher, he threw it square into the runner’s back. The runner gave a loud cry as he went off balanced and crashed into the ground. Panting heavily, He raised his pistol at the runner who was writhing in the ground in pain.

"I-Iden-" He panted. "Identify yourself!"

He was then, surprised, when the runner curled himself into a ball and covered his face with his hands.

"P-P-Please don't k-kill me!" He cried out weakly.

"What?" I said, dumbfounded.

To his dismay and horror, the runner, nothing more than a kid, began to sob and shake uncontrollably.

"I-I'm sorry!" sobbed the kid. "I d-didn't mean to sneak on you! P-please don't kill me!"

He wanted to slap himself. He was bloody stupid.

‘Good job you! You traumatized a kid. Feel better about yourself?’ His conscience taunted.

Silence, conscience. I’m working here.

Holstering his pistol, He sat next to the kid. He looked pitiful sobbing and shaking like that. It reminded him…of his younger brother back when they were still children together. He wondered if his brother survived the WCS and was somehow out in a bunker somewhere. Slowly, his hand reached out for the kid’s head and gently patted him like how a dog-owner would calm a puppy.

"Hey now." He said, putting on his best voice. "I'm not going to kill you. So….could you please stop crying?" Good lord was he terrible at this. It wasn’t everyday where he would toss a helmet at someone’s back. How the hell was he supposed to apologize to him?

The child stopped crying a bit to look up at him. It was there he could see his face. 

It was youthful and slightly effeminate. His hair was a shade of black but it was clearly dyed. Through the illumination that his helmet provided him, he could see that the boy wore a dark uniform with shorts and boots. He saw that the hue of the uniform perfectly camouflaged him in the dark. Well. That would be the case if it weren’t for his eyes which were a bright blue that seemed to…glow in the dark? 

Suddenly, he had a feeling that the boy under him was not quite human.

"R-really? Y-You won’t k-kill me?" He asked, hope growing in his voice. He could only nod and flash his best smile. He was then alarmed when the boy suddenly rushed forward to…give him a hug? For his size, he was quite the hugger.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" He repeated himself, chattering away like a bird. Fane waited until the kid was satisfied and finally, he pulled away and sat cross-legged in front of him. The kid sighed in relief and was already smiling brightly like it was his birthday. Fane only looked on, dumbfounded at the sudden change.

"I actually thought that I was a goner!" cheerfully spoke the kid. "I guess I owe you one!"

He waved it off. "Don't mention it." 

The kid then began intensely stare at him. He felt like he was a rare animal being observed by a curious child. Then he suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Are you human?"

What kind of question was that?

"Uh….Yeah? What else could I be?" He replied. Fane was then taken aback when the boy leaned closer and...smelled him? 

"Are you really real?" He asked, his eyes wide as saucers. Fane only nodded, unsure to what make of the situation. The black-haired kid then stood up, shaking excitedly.

"A human! A real-breathing-living-honest-to-god human! This changes things! Command was actually wrong! Humanity isn't extinct after all!"

A pit formed in Fane stomach as he heard the boy’s words and tried to comprehend what it meant.

"What do you mean humanity isn't extinct?" He said, cutting the kid's tirade. The boy gave him a remorseful look. A look Fane did not like.

"H-Humanity is...no...Has been extinct for 9000 years." He said, slowly. "Humans were wiped out a long time ago. The project that was supposed to save the last remnants of humanity, Project Gestalt, failed. I....I'm sorry to say that." 

Fane took a moment to think. What he heard was not a surprise. Ever since it was first announced, there were people who doubted the validity of Gestalt and expected it to fail. Fane also had his doubts but never expected it to be this bad. And also, 9000 years? He had slept that long? What the hell happened?  
Suddenly, Fane felt very, very lucky. 

"But that does not matter anymore right?” The boy’s words were cutting his train of thought and broke out of thinking. “You still live. By that logic, then humanity still lives!"

Fane looked down at the boy and saw the big goofy smile on his face. He would have to admit that seeing a smile after so long was kind of encouraging.

"I supposed so-"

His mind began to catch up on something. Something about the child right in front of him. 

“If humanity is extinct then what are you?'

"Oh? Me? Um...I'm an android." Fane could scarcely believe what he was hearing but something about the boy’s words seemed right to him. Perhaps he was telling the truth? Perhaps not? Still, it just…

"Bullshit. Prove it to me then."

The boy was taken aback by Fane’s apparent dismissal and use of…of colorful language. The boy reached for something in his pack and took out a small knife and to Fane’s horror, began to traced a wound on his chest. He was about to stop him when he noticed the wires that were inside his 'wound.'

Fane was left speechless at the bizarre act in front of him and began to let loose a tirade of colorful language after he got himself out of his spiel.

+++

A/N: This is taken from my Spacebattles account with the same name. It's only here where it is rewritten.

I hope you guys enjoy.


End file.
